My Work Situation

So, I said I would explain my work situation and now I have a few minutes, so I will.

As most of you know, I have been a labor and delivery nurse for 15 yrs.  And during those 15 yrs have grown to LOVE that area of expertise.  When we moved to Arizona, we had no support system, so me working a day shift was impossible since we had no way of finding childcare and we didn't really even know enough about the area to feel comfortable in searching.  Also, because of my mental health, I could not work nights, so it just didn't work all the way around.

So, I tried a new adventure---Home Health.  It was something new, something more to learn, and had great hours that enabled me to take my older children to and from school, take Julia to and from preschool..... and with some maneuvering, do school activities and such.

So since October I have been doing Home Health.  And to be perfectly honest, after 6 months I am burnt out.  It isn't the care of the patients that is the problem, it is all the other issues.  Fighting with dr offices to follow patients, dealing with noncompliance of patients and families.  Being argued with, demeaned, and ignored.  And then the fact that work never ends.  I have patients that call at 3am, that call 6 times a day---everyday.  My days off are consumed with phone calls and charting.  It is exhausting.

I have just found out the hard way that L&D is a better fit.  You get a patient, they do their job (deliver).  If they don't do their job then you do it for them (c-section), then you have them for 2-3 days and they go home all happy and healthy.  (We all know there are exceptions.) 

So, the moral of this story is I am an L&D nurse through and through.  And I am awesome at it!  I can give so much to my patients while I am there, and then come home and have some to give to my family and myself to.  My plan is to seek new employment in this field when the kids are in school fulltime and I can find a way to juggle it all.